The Mother of the Press Box

How a minority press reporter’s viral post-game speech humanized the NFL

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Often, in modern journalism and analyzing, athletes and reporters often clash at each other, looking to see who is more in control of the sport. It happens more often than we realize.

But rarely does journalism humanize a sport. In this case, it changed the perception of sports writing and journalism for years to come.

Reporter Lynn Jones-Turpin is a veteran journalist with a career spanning over 30 years. Currently, she serves as the associate editor and sales team manager for the Jacksonville Free Press. She is originally from Detroit and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994.

Coincidentally, the Jacksonville Free Press is one of the few remaining printed black-owned newspapers in the United States. Jones-Turpin has been with the newspaper since 2008 and previously hosted “The Lynn and Friends Show” a decade before.

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But after the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC playoff in 2026, the veteran journalists offered heartfelt encouragement rather than stringing together questions after the loss.

With Jaguars head coach Liam Coen at the podium, Jones-Turpin took courage and said this to the young coach:

“I just want to tell you congratulations on your success, young man. You hold your head up… You guys have had a most magnificent season. You did a great job out there today, so you just hold your head up, okay?”

All the coach could do was smile despite being in the midst of one of the more disappointing and heartbreaking losses he had in his career. But what made this story stand out?

[embed]Video courtesy of YouTube

Nicknamed “Duval Granny”, Jones-Turpin saw the weight of the city on the young coach’s shoulders and felt that the room was too heavy for a typical discussion of the game. She chose to “speak life” into him instead of criticizing him for the loss.

The Jaguars are one of the younger teams in the NFL and have not had a lot of success since coming into the league in 1996. Sure, they had some winning seasons. But this has been the first time in a long time that Jacksonville seemed to be consistently good.

The team has the pieces around quarterback Trevor Lawrence to help make the Jags a powerhouse in the AFC South. With a balanced offense and a dominating defense, Jacksonville is a team that no one should take lightly.

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But last but not least, a kind word even in the storms of the media can go a long way. Instead of tearing down athletes and coaches, we can find a way to build them up.

The world has enough critics.

Thanks for reading my article!